The rise of SD-WAN..........

Businesses big and small have become increasingly reliant on technology to operate. Many have offices scattered across cities, countries, and even continents, and employees need constant access to critical applications and data seamlessly – regardless of their location.?

Connecting these offices and applications has become incredibly complex. It often involves expensive, inflexible, and unreliable private networks that aren’t suitable for the modern hybrid-multi-cloud era.

These networks struggle to handle the demands of these new work styles and applications, leading to performance issues, security risks, and increased IT overhead.

SD-WAN providers?have emerged as a cost-effective solution to help organizations connect cloud applications and remote workforces, enabling businesses to build more flexible, cost-effective, and reliable networks that can adapt to the ever-changing demands of the digital world.

What is SD-WAN?

Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) is an approach to managing and optimizing enterprise networks that leverages software-based control and virtualization to dynamically route traffic across multiple network connections.?

Instead of relying solely on MPLS, like traditional networks, SD-WAN allows you to use a combination of internet connections, like broadband, LTE, and even MPLS if you have it.?

All of these connections can be managed by a central software controller, which automatically decides the best path for data to travel based on factors like network congestion, application priority, and cost. SD-WAN can also intelligently route traffic based on application requirements.?

For example, critical applications like video conferencing might get priority over less important ones, allowing organizations to prioritise crucial applications to maximize performance at a reduced cost.?

This software-defined infrastructure gives businesses more control, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness since can manage their entire network from a single point. It also makes it easier to configure, monitor, and troubleshoot networks so administrators can manage them effectively.?

How does SD-WAN work?

SD-WAN uses multiple internet connections (broadband, LTE, MPLS, etc.) at each branch location to provide redundancy and improve performance. These connections are controlled through the SD-WAN controller, which intelligently directs traffic across the available connections, prioritizing critical applications and optimizing performance.

The SD-WAN orchestrator then analyzes traffic patterns and application requirements to determine the best path for data transmission to ensure optimal performance for critical applications across the network. Network configurations and policies are managed centrally, simplifying administration and reducing errors.

This allows SD-WAN to create a virtual overlay network on top of the underlying physical network. This allows for flexible routing and traffic management with network configurations and policies managed centrally to simplify administration. reduce errors and improve security?

Benefits of SD-WAN?

1. Cost Reduction

Opting for an SD-WAN provider enables organizations to use broadband internet, LTE, or a combination of both. By intelligently routing traffic based on application priorities, SD-WAN ensures efficient use of bandwidth, preventing overprovisioning and associated costs SD-WAN's centralized management platform also reduces the need for on-site IT personnel at branch locations, leading to labor cost savings.

2. Improved Performance

SD-WAN analyzes traffic patterns and application requirements to determine the optimal path for data transmission. This ensures that critical applications like VoIP or video conferencing are prioritized and routed over the most suitable connection. SD-WAN also constantly monitors network conditions and adjusts traffic routing in real-time to optimize performance and avoid congestion.

3. Increased Agility

SD-WAN edge devices can be deployed rapidly at branch locations, often within hours, compared to days or weeks for traditional WAN setups. As your business grows, adding new sites or increasing bandwidth is relatively straightforward with SD-WAN, accommodating changes in network demands efficiently.

4. More reliable networks?

SD-WAN allows for the use of multiple internet connections (like broadband, LTE, and MPLS) simultaneously. This creates redundancy, meaning if one connection fails, traffic can be seamlessly rerouted over another. SD-WAN also constantly monitors the performance of each connection and dynamically reroutes traffic to the best available link, optimizing performance and minimizing disruptions.

5. Simplified Management

With SD-WAN, network administrators can oversee and configure the entire WAN infrastructure from a single, central location. They can also apply policies and configurations across all branches, reducing inconsistencies and errors. SD-WAN can include advanced security features like encryption and firewall protection too, making it easier for administrators to manage security teams and respond to threats.?

Cisco?

Renowned for its incredible IT security solutions,?Cisco?also provides one of the best SD-WAN providers the industry has to offer. Cisco’s Catalyst SD-WAN makes managing your WAN a breeze – offering built-in automation, multi-cloud capabilities, analytics, predictivity and security that let you focus on your business. You also gain access to multi-tenancy and multi-region fabric support and flexibility in on-premises or cloud-delivered deployments, meaning your WAN will handle the growth of your network with ease.

Cisco provides all the tools to help you deploy your WAN over any type of connection – whether it's the internet, broadband, Multi-protocol Label Switching (MPLS), 5G/LTE or satellite – and make the network will be more resilient and efficient, and your users will have a better experience. This makes it easy to adapt to changing needs with secure access to physical or virtual platforms for branches, colocation and cloud environments, allowing you to securely connect your people, wherever they are, while you build your path to SASE.

Intro to Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

https://youtu.be/lqAxHohVUUk